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I suppose this is a 'dumb' question, but I've never known what 'unlocked'
means in regard to a cell phone

Ron

"Tom" <tommietp@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:EDbde.169768$cg1.148361@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Nokia 6340i unlocked cell phone. Cingular branded, 38 hours on the life
timer. It is a GAIT phone, operating on GSM, TDMA and analog freqs.
 Sold with a Nokia wall charger, Nokia headset and battery.  $25.00 plus
shipping or pick up in Eugene,OR.

I only found out recently what this term meant.  I was using a Nokia 6200 on
AT&T's system when they were purchased by Cingular.  I switched over to the
new service, mostly for the "Rollover" feature and was given a free Motorola
flip phone.  I didn't like it nearly as much as my Nokia, so I asked if I
could just switch the SIM cards.  The salesguy told me that because my Nokia
was "locked" to AT&T's service that it wouldn't work with Cingular's system,
but that if I did a Google search for "Nokia 6200 unlock" that I would find
a way to make it work.  If I didn't feel comfortable doing it myself there
was a local retailer (I forget the name) that would unlock the phone for
$25.  I was lucky, there was plenty of information on how to unlock my phone
for free on Google.  For kicks I also searched for information on how to
unlock the free Motorola phone I was planning on selling, plus my wife's old
Ericsson and her new LG.  I found that most phones require some hardware
interface, either a data cable or decoder box, in order to unlock them.
There are also websites that will send unlock codes directly to your phone
for a fee, usually between $25 and $40.


"Ron" <no one @home.com> wrote in message
news:qcDde.373$o36.1595@news.uswest.net...
> I suppose this is a 'dumb' question, but I've never known what 'unlocked'
> means in regard to a cell phone
>
> Ron

Interesting, thanks!

I 'guess' the bottom line is that an unlocked phone can work with any
service provider?  So if I change service I wouldn't have to buy a new
phone, right?

I recently changed from AT&T to Verizon, and was given a new phone free of
charge.

Thanks again,

Ron


"http://www.pdxpc.tk" <pdxpc@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:g6qdnSN0wqn-kurfRVn-tg@comcast.com...
> I only found out recently what this term meant.  I was using a Nokia 6200
on
> AT&T's system when they were purchased by Cingular.  I switched over to
the
> new service, mostly for the "Rollover" feature and was given a free
Motorola
> flip phone.  I didn't like it nearly as much as my Nokia, so I asked if I
> could just switch the SIM cards.  The salesguy told me that because my
Nokia
> was "locked" to AT&T's service that it wouldn't work with Cingular's
system,
> but that if I did a Google search for "Nokia 6200 unlock" that I would
find
> a way to make it work.  If I didn't feel comfortable doing it myself there
> was a local retailer (I forget the name) that would unlock the phone for
> $25.  I was lucky, there was plenty of information on how to unlock my
phone
> for free on Google.  For kicks I also searched for information on how to
> unlock the free Motorola phone I was planning on selling, plus my wife's
old
> Ericsson and her new LG.  I found that most phones require some hardware
> interface, either a data cable or decoder box, in order to unlock them.
> There are also websites that will send unlock codes directly to your phone
> for a fee, usually between $25 and $40.
>
>
> "Ron" <no one @home.com> wrote in message
> news:qcDde.373$o36.1595@news.uswest.net...
> > I suppose this is a 'dumb' question, but I've never known what
'unlocked'
> > means in regard to a cell phone
> >
> > Ron
>
>
>